fire escape vs stairway

fire escape and stairway both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
fire escape	Yes	No	No	No
stairway	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, stairway is a hypernym of fire escape; that is, stairway is a word with a broader meaning than fire escape:

fire escape: a stairway (often on the outside of a building) that permits exit in the case of fire or other emergency
stairway: a way of access (upward and downward) consisting of a set of steps

Other hypernyms of fire escape include staircase.

fire escape (noun)	stairway (noun)
a stairway (often on the outside of a building) that permits exit in the case of fire or other emergency	a way of access (upward and downward) consisting of a set of steps